The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Another dumb question. Convert hydraulic to air brakes

So I got that old 370 home and I'm gonna start on that axle swap next week. But this rig looks like it's straight hydraulic brakes. Is it possible to convert these hydraulic axles to air? I don't really know how air works.

Is it possible?
Can I do it or should I try a truck shop?

Or should I just re-plumb for Hydraulic. I'm really liking the air brakes though.

If you have money and time you can do anything, for a do it yourself job I wouldn't consider it, you will have to re-invent the wheel.

If you really want to do it, get a similar or same truck on air and switch everything over, or put your body on the other truck.

You will need a driver's license authorization for air.

Pretty easy to get all new juice brake parts, and a whole lot easier.

Ed

Ed, we don't need a different license for air brakes out here so thats not an issue. The reason it's not easy to do a body swap is because one truck is an LCF style and the other is a conventional cab. The front axle is in a very different spot.

Gents I understand the "anything with enough money" but what I don't get is what scale you're talking about. 10,000? because that's obviously not an option at that price. But if it were $1500, I would entertain that. I understand that the actuation is different, but are the drums and pads and everything else different? Could I just pull the whole brake assemblies off the axles and swap them? I just don't know how universal they are.

Thanks

Depending on if you have a donor chassis or if your starting from scratch with new current products. With all new parts or a combination of donor and new $1500 won't even get you in the ballpark. Like Ed recommended, try to find a rig that you can swap axles and the rest of the air system.

You're probably about to create a couple of pieces of yard art- - - - -two ruined rigs that will never be roadworthy again.
Jerry

I put straight air on an old fire truck and made a tractor out of it

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...aWRyU1NYNnRCZ09OVElhckdEelNLbXNobjlnTnNn

I used this donor truck.

https://plus.google.com/u/1/photos/photo/112636930370126476644/6586034148251996402

Nothing really complicated about it. However, I have owned trucks with air brakes for 55 years and still supervise maintenance on them. But, I wouldn't know where to start explaining to anyone what has to be done. I used both axles from the LCF as well as the compressor and mounting on the engine. The rest of it was merely a matter of installing necessary valves and air lines.